Israel takes 30 dunams of land near Salfit ‘for security reasons’

Land, property theft & destruction / Ethnic cleansing / Apartheid

Activist: Israel to seize more land in Salfit district
SALFIT (Ma‘an) 24 May — Israeli authorities issued a decision to seize 30 dunums of land belonging to Palestinians from Deir Istiya, near Salfit, activists said Thursday.  Rizik Abu Nasser, head of the popular campaign against settlements in Salfit, quoted the order as saying the land was being seized “for security reasons and to prevent terrorist operations.” The mayor, Nathmi Salman, condemned the decision. He said it was the third such order in a row to seize land from Deir Istiya.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=488908

Occupation forces Palestinian to demolish his house adjacent to Al-Aqsa
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM (PIC) 25 May — Jerusalemite citizen, Azzam Afifi, demolished his house, on Wednesday, to avoid his arrest or pay fine, in context of the occupation’s continuing restriction policy against Jerusalemites. The Israeli Municipal Court in Occupied Jerusalem has ordered the demolition of Afifi’s house under the pretext of being constructed without permit … He pointed out that the demolition order was issued in October 2010 where he was forced to tear down part of his own home. However, the court has ordered again in May 2012 to demolish the whole house, giving him a respite of 60 days or he will be jailed or fined.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7d5Avl0lKQavg7qwGDOfOgweiMjMAxzzJh5qO5n%2fwhn538mDmVw0lO86ELkGMGgWyzWpJaUy4lWbg%2btAKUpj139NEsgMA2KFIvCYlsjPvqKU%3d

Israel expands settlement projects in West Bank
OCCUPIED WEST BANK (PIC) 24 May — Jad Ishak, director of applied research center Areej specialised in settlements affairs, said that settlement building area in 8 districts in the occupied West Bank is larger than the Palestinian construction area in the same districts. Ishak told Quds press that the current Jewish settlements projects on Palestinian territories will turn 180 outposts in occupied West Bank and Jerusalem to settlements. The total outpost numbers which have been built since 1998 when the former PM Ariel Sharon ordered to occupy the Palestinian mountain tops, has reached 400 settlements.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7H5O84KFqTaU%2fu5sx8nJsMo2q2xGs%2bBKzd0PifHtFbi7oQxrnKyDachL4PJh%2fe76ffWN%2f6txgKbQTZzw9alHnbyqWTk1LSzF2XN2SQTpNHGk%3d

Twilight Zone: ‘I too am willing to die for this land’ / Gideon Levy
Haaretz 18 May — A visit to Biddya, a once-thriving West Bank town that was forced to rely on agriculture after the start of the second intifada … “We used to travel from here to work every day, straight through all the way to Petah Tikva,” whispers a villager named Yousef Abu-Sofia as we stand in front of the barrier that killed his bustling business – a sophisticated electronic fence that was erected at the edge of the shopping street that leads into the adjacent village, Mas’ha. This is the separation fence, which turned the long street into a road with no exit to the west from Biddya, with its approximately 20,000 residents. Nobody leaves and nobody enters through the closed yellow iron gate in the fence … On the land of Mas’ha, a neighborhood of large gray edifices is under construction, an expansion of the settlement of Etz Efraim. “When the bulldozers arrive, it will already be too late,” Sabah Der-Ahmed told us. The last time that Israel tried sending the bulldozers in to expropriate this land, his father, Ibrahim, tried to block them with his body and was shot to death by the soldiers, in front of his son.
http://www.haaretz.com/weekend/twilight-zone/i-am-too-am-willing-to-die-for-this-land.premium-1.431242

Violence / Raids / Arrests

Jewish Israelis attack students in Tel Aviv
PNN — On Friday, 25th May, six female Palestinian students from the al-Tur School for Girls were injured when a group of Jewish Israelis attacked them in Yarkon in Tel Aviv. The attack occurred while the students were on a field trip in Manachem Begin Park. Two Jewish men and two Jewish women threw stones at the girls and beat them with sticks, while they were playing in paddleboats. The girls suffered bruises and six students were transferred to the hospital in Tel Aviv.
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php/national/1752-jewish-israelis-attack-students-in-tel-aviv

Witnesses: Settler runs over child near Ramallah
RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 25 May — A settler ran over a child on the main road between Nabi Saleh and Deir Nidam villages on Friday, witnesses said. Ragheb Muhammad Tamimi, 6, was taken to Hadassah hospital in Ein Kareem, witnesses told Ma‘an. His health condition is unknown. The illegal settlement of Hallamish is located between the Ramallah area villages.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=489216

Israeli forces raid Hebron
PNN — On Friday, 25th May, Israeli forces raided al-Thaheriyeh village, south of Hebron in the West Bank. Palestinian Sources said that a number of Israeli military jeeps raided several neighborhoods in al-Thaheriyeh and the soldiers roamed its streets.
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php/politics/1751-israeli-forces-raid-hebron

Israeli forces raid the West Bank, arrest Palestinians
PNN On Thursday, 24th May, Israeli forces raided Jenin governorate … Security sources told Palestinian Official News Agency WAFA that Israeli forces raided al-Arka village, west of Jenin and arrested Alaa Bassam Yahya, 21, and Abdul Rahman Kamel Hammad, 27, after they broke into their houses and searched them. Israeli forces also raided Jaba’ village, south of Jenin, and broke into the house of the released prisoner Nazeh Sa’id Abu Oun, Basel Mohammad Ghannam and Ibrahim Othman Hamamreh , after they searched their houses and interrogated the residents. Israeli forces arrested Abdul Salam Khader al-Herimi, 24, from Bethlehem city after they raided his house, searched it and rummaged with the contents.
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php/politics/1738-israeli-forces-raid-the-west-bank-arrest-palestinians

PA: Settlers torch farmland near Nablus
NABLUS (Ma‘an) 24 May — Israeli settlers on Thursday torched farmland near Nablus in the northern West Bank, a PA official said. Ghassan Doughlas told Ma‘an that residents of Yitzhar settlement set fire to large swathes of agricultural land in Madma village. Witnesses told Ma‘an that villagers clashed with the settlers and that Israeli forces intervened and detained two Palestinians, Ahmad Nassar, 20, and Muhammad Nassar, 23. An Israeli army spokeswoman said soldiers and border police were called to the area but she said there were no detentions. Meanwhile, Palestinian firefighters controlled the fires.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=489005

PCHR weekly report: 6 wounded, 30 abducted in 90 Israeli incursions this week [17-23 May]
IMEMC 25 May — In its Weekly Report On Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territories for the week of 17– 23 May 2012, the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) found that 4 non-violent protesters were wounded, and 30 Palestinians were abducted, including 12 children, by Israeli forces in the past week. In addition, a civilian was seriously wounded by Israeli troops south of Bethlehem, and a civilian was shot and seriously wounded in Gaza. Full Report
http://www.imemc.org/article/63572

Why IDF soldiers stand idly by when settlers attack Palestinians / Dana Golan
972mag 25 May — …the soldier on the ground receives oral commands that preserve the order to do nothing in instances of Israeli fire towards Palestinians, and in instances of less severe violence, “to serve as a buffer.” … Perhaps its because I served in Hebron, or perhaps because I’ve been exposed to many soldier testimonies that describe incidents of settler violence towards Palestinians – but I cannot understand the Israeli public’s amazement surrounding the video from Saturday. After nearly 45 years of occupation, even those Israelis who never served in the Territories should already know that this is what life looks like in the “backyard” of our own State. This is the reality created by constant discrimination and the enforcement of two separate law regimes. The soldiers who just stood there should not be the targets of disgust for their unfit behavior. It is us, the civilians at home, who continue to send them there to enforce this discriminatory occupation, who should be looking in the mirror and asking ourselves how we let this reality develop and continue.
http://972mag.com/why-idf-soldiers-stand-idly-by-when-settlers-attack-palestinians/46770/

American demands justice for her husband, murdered by Israel in broad daylight
Jerusalem (EI) 24 May by Jillian Kestler-D’Amours — Moira Jilani’s voice wavers only once in a two-hour conversation, when she describes the impact the death of her husband, Ziad, has had on her three daughters … Moira’s husband, 41-year-old Ziad Jilani, was shot and killed by Israeli border police officers on an East Jerusalem street in broad daylight two years ago. Moira and her three daughters — Hannah, Mirage and Yasmin — are still fighting to hold the Israeli officers who shot Ziad responsible … “I just want the two men that shot him, with the bullets that my friends and my family’s taxpayer’s dollars paid for, behind bars. I’m an American, and they shot him with [American] taxpayers’ money.”
http://electronicintifada.net/content/american-demands-justice-her-husband-murdered-israel-broad-daylight/11325

Gaza

Israel offered $6 million to victims of Gaza flotilla, say Turkish lawyers
Haaretz/Reuters 24 May — One of several lawyers representing 465 victims and victims’ relatives of the 2010 Gaza flotilla raid says Israel made proposal to him through an intermediary foreign ambassador a month ago … He said the money would have been paid to a Jewish foundation in Turkey for distribution, and been followed by a statement of “regret” for the raid by the Israeli government. “I told the ambassador I did not think the offer was appropriate or moral and also discussed the issue with the victims and their friends and they also stated that they could not accept this,” Ariturk said. http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/israel-offered-6-million-to-victims-of-gaza-flotilla-raid-say-turkish-lawyers-1.432473

Dad does not want to know: a man on a Gaza roof / Mats Svensson
Pal. Chron. 24 May — Daniel has returned home. He had felt a lump in his stomach even before stepping on the plane in Mumbai. He felt sick when he saw all the young boys and girls checking everyone’s identity at Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv … He had slept a lot in Goa. At first it had been difficult, but after three months he had started feeling better. It was above all nice to sleep on the beach, under the stars. Hear the voices and the sound of the waves. It was like he could hear normal sounds, hear life. Dad did not ask Daniel why he had had nightmares, why he had been feeling psychologically ill … Daniel had wanted to tell them about his last year in Gaza … In Gaza, Daniel spent most of his time on a roof top. They had taken over a two-story house. That was what he had really wanted to talk about. About the two families that had been forcibly removed.
http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=19314

Rafah’s nicest tunnel: Siege meets surf in Gaza / Joe Catron
[photo essay] The Sea Huts are a coastal resort in Rafah, Palestine, a kilometer from the Egyptian border. Despite Israel’s crippling siege of the Gaza Strip, the hotel’s proprietors have engineered a solution to every need for their establishment, with the possible exception of paying customers. Because of the difficulty of importing building materials, the detached apartments, as well as the sculptures surrounding them, have been sculpted almost entirely from local clay … The tunnel’s design is conventional, if unusually spacious and well-lit. But unlike most in Rafah, it leads to the beach only meters away.
https://mondoweiss.net/2012/05/rafahs-nicest-tunnel-siege-meets-surf-in-gaza.html

Prisoners

Occupation extends administrative detention of two brothers from Al-Khalil
AL-KHALIL (PIC) 25 May — The Israeli occupation authorities extended, on Thursday, the administrative detention of two brothers from the southern West Bank city of al-Khalil … Sources from the family of Adeeb and Shafiq Qawasmeh, who are detained in the Negev desert prison, told PIC that the occupation authorities informed them of the extension of their administrative detention a further four months for the third time running. The sources said that the two brothers were arrested on 21 August 2011, during a broad campaign against Hamas supporters in al-Khalil district.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7y6qEhAB%2bT7lP8%2bjePIP2mxZnj0Y2wR35X6DJWzkuPPdi0RWoTrdmV8Vky69UdibeUEre%2fXj9PPsrjCIJUPZPpe5vjgKcR7rgxvVeXnJLAtY%3d

Sheikh Samih Alliwi is moved to administrative detention after his release
NABLUS (PIC) 24 May — Ahrar center for prisoners studies and human rights stated that the Israeli intelligence had moved, on Tuesday evening, Sheikh Samih Alliwi, 50, to administrative detention immediately after his release. The center director, Fouad Khuffash, said that the detainee Samih’s trial took place yesterday, represented by the lawyer Fares Abu Hassan who managed to get him released, the fact that was not welcomed by the Israeli intelligence service which moved him, after the lawyer’s departure, to administrative detention for four months.
Khuffash added that the Intelligence service is using psychological torture against Palestinian prisoners. In addition it did not fulfill the agreement about limiting administrative detention, by contrast it has renewed the administrative detention of 25 detainees after the May 14 agreement.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7s92GBfO12X3PBeqIkJ631%2br78uhPAbPNoBgo6UL3fNyM15b01Q%2bhp45AUNLuexn4aPc0y2syUo7d59qDdVNB1xBQNrWJ7CTefvPAx7tdOdI%3d

Sick prisoner released to hospital
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 25 May — Palestinian prisoner Zuheir Lubada arrived late Thursday to the national hospital in Nablus after being released from Israeli custody.  Fuad al-Khafsh, the director of Ahrar center for prisoners rights, said Lubada suffers from liver and kidney disorders and entered the intensive care unit.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=489147

The detainee Hassan Salameh to complete his university studies
GAZA (PIC) 25 May — Sources confirmed that the detainee Hassan Salameh, a leader in Hamas military wing the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, has registered at Al-Aqsa University in the Gaza Strip to study history. The sources confirmed to PIC that the detainee, who served 11 years in isolation, has registered at Al-Aqsa University in history department after he was released from isolation thanks to the Battle of the Empty Stomachs for Dignity that lasted 28 days. It is noted that the Al-Aqsa University has opened in coordination with the Ministry of Captives’ Affairs registration process for prisoners in occupation prisons.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7dGItPmBmKaachQlQHiNcm2rx0GK9ZPtW%2fiBY3sieLzFWndApdb3qOkHrxtxMtrKba1tQpnB24sdQQ3LkXiRNWboXOZh4hR%2fepbrL6xg5ktA%3d

Father of soccer player on hunger strike appeals for solidarity
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 24 May — …Mahmoud al-Sarsak, a forward in Palestine’s national soccer team, has been detained without charge or trial since July 2009 when he was arrested while leaving Gaza for a match in the West Bank. He went on hunger strike on March 19 demanding to be informed of the reasons for his detention or released. He is being held in Ramle prison clinic. In a letter, al-Sarsak’s father said it was “unbearable” for his family to see Israel awarded the hosting of the UEFA under-21s soccer championship and preparing to join the London Olympics “while it routinely arrests, tortures, imprisons and kills Palestinians, including football players, without consequence.”
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=489023

Jailed MP Aziz Dweik ‘rejects exile offer’
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 24 May — Jailed Hamas MP Aziz Dweik on Thursday rejected an Israeli proposal to release him to exile, a prisoners group said. Dweik, speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council, is being held in Ofer prison in administrative detention, without charge or trial. Israel offered to release him on condition he agreed to spend two years in exile, said Foad al-Khafsh, head of the Ahrar Center for Prisoners Studies and Human Rights. Dweik said he would prefer to stay in jail, al-Khafsh told Ma‘an…
Some 27 Palestinian MPs are held in Israeli jails, 24 of them without charge or trial.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=489068

PLC denies group’s claim of Dweik exile offer
JERUSALEM (Ma‘an) 25 May — The office of the Palestinian legislative council’s president on Friday denied a group’s report that Israel had offered to release the imprisoned speaker of the council into exile … Dweik’s lawyer demanded that the Israeli military prosecution release him and he is still waiting for a response, the PLC said. Israel did not make an offer to release Dweik into exile, it added.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=489179

Jordanian prisoner exposed to attempted killing last month
AMMAN (PIC) 24 May — The mother of Jordanian prisoner Merei Abu Sa’aida said the Israeli jailers in Nafha prison tried to assassinate her son on 24 April. The mother told a reporter for the Palestinian information center (PIC) in Amman on Wednesday that she has reliable information that her son is in a very serious medical condition and the jailers refuse to send him to any hospital or allow the Red Cross to check on him. She added that her son was severely beaten with rifle butts on his head causing him to faint and his health to deteriorate.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7n0RQ0G32iypN2f9L9wciA0RfqlmsM3GZp2H8dIlfDkzUSUZSxywHWUUjXAMvFyRHrdp6Hijly9r8RFdPLGHDQbXZkTNbjdm%2f4PWqIe99BeA%3d

MK Tibi visits jailed Fatah leader Marwan Barghouthi
JERUSALEM (Ma‘an) 24 May — Ahmad Tibi, a Palestinian member of Israel’s Knesset, on Thursday visited Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti in Hadarim prison. Tibi also visited Karim Younis, the longest-serving Palestinian prisoner who has been jailed since 1983, the minister’s office said in a statement.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=489065

US lawyers express concern to Clinton over conditions of Palestinian prisoners
MEMO 25 May — One of the largest lawyers’ representative bodies in America has written an open letter to the US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, urging her to apply pressure on her Israeli counterparts to end the illegal practice of administrative detention against Palestinian prisoners. The National Lawyers Guild (NLG) has expressed its grave concern over the recent Palestinian hunger strike, highlighting the causes as “the widespread and illegal practice of administrative detention… horrendous living conditions and ill-treatment to which [Palestinian prisoners] are subjected to in Israeli prisons”. The NLG highlighted further the use of long-term isolation and secret evidence in a military court system … The letter ends with a call for the immediate cessation of all US military aid to Israel, which amounts to $3.1 billion per annum. To read the full letter, click here.
http://www.middleeastmonitor.org.uk/news/americas/3792-us-lawyers-express-concern-to-clinton-over-conditions-of-palestinian-prisoners

Racism / Discrimination against Africans

Police arrest 9 suspected of attacking migrants
Ynet 25 May — Gang of Israelis suspected of going around Tel Aviv at night looking for Africans to beat up –  Police on Friday arrested an 18-year-old suspected of being involved in recent attacks against migrants in south Tel Aviv, bringing the subtotal of detainees in the affair to nine. On Thursday, a 40-year-old man suspected of leading the gang of assailants was remanded in custody. Police plan to arrest further suspects. According to police, the gang members were in the habit of going around southern Tel Aviv at nights as part of what they called “Let’s go beat up a Sudanese.”
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4234184,00.html

Marching in pain: Images from Tel Aviv’s post-riot protest / Yuval Ben-Ami
972mag 25 May — The demonstration following Wednesday night’s race riots was the mellowest I’ve seen here in years. Several hundred of concerned Israelis gathered in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, and marched to symbols of the political system that produced the incitement: the Knesset in Jerusalem, the headquarters of the Likud party in Tel Aviv. No confrontations with police were reported. This should not be taken as a sign that liberal Israelis view the events as trivial. Many of my friends and myself were so shocked and depressed at Wednesday’s news, that we found expressing our feelings difficult … To many of us, the broken windows, looting and attacks on African passersby carried a clear memory of atrocities committed against Jews in Europe, and the internet was overflowing with references to pogroms and to Kristallnacht. It comes as no surprise then, that the resulting protest march felt somewhat more like a memorial event than a demo.
http://972mag.com/marching-in-pain-images-from-tel-avivs-post-riot-protest/46740/

Netanyahu condemns violence against African migrants, promises to solve problem
Haaretz 24 May — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised on Thursday that his government would address the issue of African migrants in Israel, one day after a protest against them by residents of south Tel Aviv turned violent. “The infiltrator problem must be solved, and we will solve it,” Netanyahu said on Thursday afternoon, speaking at an event in Tel Aviv. He also referred to the construction of a fence on the Egypt-Israel border, saying, “We will complete construction of the fence within two months, and soon we will begin sending infiltrators back to their countries of origin.”
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/netanyahu-condemns-violence-against-african-migrants-promises-to-solve-problem-1.432482

How a Tel Aviv anti-migrant protest spiraled out of control
24 May — Haaretz writer Ilan Lior describes how he narrowly escaped an encounter with a violent mob during a protest against African migrants in south Tel Aviv’s Hatikva neighborhood — It started as a legitimate protest, and then it went out of control. The masses understood the message: the time for talking is over – it’s now time to act.
I have been a journalist for ten years. I’ve covered terror attacks, funerals, car accidents, and protests. I’ve seen fury, frustration, despair, and sadness in a variety of places and forms. But I’ve never seen such hatred as it was displayed on Wednesday night in the Hatikva neighborhood. If it weren’t for the police presence, it would have ended in lynching. I have no doubt.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/how-a-tel-aviv-anti-migrant-protest-spiraled-out-of-control.premium-1.432456

Rights group: Israeli govt must let migrants work
JERUSALEM (Ma‘an) 25 May — The Israeli government must stop incitement against asylum seekers and take responsibility for their welfare, [said] an Israeli human rights group Friday. “Stop pushing the asylum seekers to desperation and crime, and let them work,” the Association for Civil Rights in Israel said … The group criticized the proposed policy of deporting migrants, noting that the vast majority of asylum seekers are Eritrean and would likely face imprisonment or torture if they were forced to return.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=489191

Interior minister: We will fine mayors who employ African migrants
Haaretz 24 May — Eli Yishai tells Israel’s Channel 2 news: Fines will make city mayors hire Israelis; more than 1,100 people signed a letter petitioning Attorney General for legal action against MKs in anti-migrant rally.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/interior-minister-we-will-fine-mayors-who-employ-african-migrants-1.432493

An African migrant’s plea for a few basic rights / Adam Ibrahim
Haaretz 24 May — If the government doesn’t want us here, let them deport us. But they can’t have it both ways – exploiting our presence here without giving us basic rights … It is important for me to say that we are not a burden on society. We work for less than minimum wage in jobs that Israelis wouldn’t want to do themselves anyway. We pay rent, and make do with organizations that we established ourselves. It is hard for me to hear Eli Yishai’s statements in the media.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/an-african-migrant-s-plea-for-a-few-basic-rights-1.432436?localLinksEnabled=false

“Why did they smash our businesses? We’re scared”
JPost 25 May — Eritrean migrants react with shock and fear to anti-African violence in south Tel Aviv — As he cleans up debris from the floor of his looted bar on Etsel Street in south Tel Aviv’s Hatikva neighborhood, Amin, an Eritrean migrant, holds up two bricks. Just a few hours ago on Wednesday night, rioters hurled those bricks through the plate-glass door of Amin’s bar, a cozy and popular local venue patronized by members of the Eritrean migrant community ... “They destroyed everything. Why? What for? What have we done to them?” said Amin, who didn’t look angry – just sad, tired and worried...
http://www.jpost.com/NationalNews/Article.aspx?id=271404&R=R2

Twilight Zone: Between an uncertain future and a safe haven / Gideon Levy
Haaretz 25 May — One endured torture at the hands of Sinai Bedouin and has an uncertain future, the other is glad to be living and working in a democratic country like Israel and is even reading Ariel Sharon’s biography; two faces among a myriad of African refugees.
http://www.haaretz.com/weekend/twilight-zone/between-an-uncertain-future-and-a-safe-haven.premium-1.432595

Guards deployed in Tel Aviv after race riots
AFP 15 May — A contingent of border guards has been sent in to help maintain law and order in Tel Aviv neighbourhoods rocked by race riots, a police spokesman said on Friday. “A unit of border guards comprising 60 men, including 40 police officers, has been deployed in south Tel Aviv to ensure order,” Micky Rosenfeld told AFP.
http://news.yahoo.com/guards-deployed-tel-aviv-race-riots-092420636.html

Lapid: Rightist MKs don’t understand Jewish morality
Ynet 24 May — Yesh Atid chairman joins criticism against MKs Regev, Danon and Ben Ari, who made inflammatory statements during protest against migrants, says ‘When I see a pogrom led by inciting MKs, I wonder how they have the nerve to call themselves Jews’
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4233964,00.html

US report criticizes Israel’s treatment of African migrants
Haaretz 25 May — Report quotes statistics provided by the UNHCR, showing that during the year out of 4,603 new asylum applications 3,692 were rejected. Only one was approved.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/u-s-report-criticizes-israel-s-treatment-of-african-migrants-1.432518

Other racism / discrimination

Israel AG against prosecuting authors of book justifying killing of non-Jews
Haaretz 25 May — Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein is tending toward not prosecuting the author or endorsers of the controversial book “Torat Hamelech,” Haaretz has learned. The book, written in 2009 by Rabbi Yitzhak Shapira and Rabbi Yosef Elitzur, was endorsed by two other rabbis, Yitzhak Ginzburg and Dov Lior. The authors describe it as a discussion of Jewish law on the conditions under which it is permissible to kill a non-Jew in times of war and peace. The book’s publication led to the launch of a criminal investigation against the four rabbis for incitement to racism and violence.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/israel-ag-against-prosecuting-authors-of-book-justifying-killing-of-non-jews-1.432504

Airports Authority withdraws employment ban on Arab cab drivers
972mag 23 May — The Israeli Airports Authority has withdrawn a directive ordering cab companies servicing Ben Gurion Airport employees to refrain from hiring Arab taxi drivers …The Association for Civil Rights in Israel last week sent a complaint (Hebrew) to the Airport Authority, calling the directive a violation of constitutional principles of equality and freedom of occupation, particularly grave coming from a public institution. The Airports Authority this week canceled the directive and tried to distance itself from its wording
http://972mag.com/airports-authority-withdraws-employment-ban-on-arab-cab-drivers/46529/

After criticism, Haifa University adds Arabic text to new logo
Haaretz 22 May — The University of Haifa was criticized of omitting text in Arabic on its new 40-year anniversary logo; university president Aharon Ben-Ze’ev: faculties can use any of the logos they see fit … Arabic and Hebrew are both official languages of the State of Israel.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/after-criticism-haifa-university-adds-arabic-text-to-new-logo-1.431991?localLinksEnabled=false

The Nakba

“Every day I dream of returning home”: a Nakba survivor speaks
Rafah (EI) 24 May by Rami Almeghari — Maryam al-Hout (known as Um Hasan) is in her late eighties but she still welcomes customers to a furniture store run by her grandson Mohammad. Selling mattresses, cushions and carpets, the store is located in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah. Um Hasan was forced to leave her home village of Julis during the Nakba (catastrophe), the systematic ethnic cleansing that led to Israel’s foundation in 1948. Before then, she was living there with her husband Abu Hasan (since deceased) and her parents. Julis is located near Asqalan, which is now the city of Ashkelon in present-day Israel.  “The Israeli forces entered the nearby Beit Daras village, then we moved to Asqalan, where we stayed about six months,” Abu Hasan recalled. “Afterwards, we heard horrible things about a town near Jerusalem known as Deir Yassin. We heard that men, women and children were slaughtered…”
http://electronicintifada.net/content/every-day-i-dream-returning-home-nakba-survivor-speaks/11328

Whatever you do, don’t talk about the Palestinian Nakba / Yossi Sarid
Haaretz 25 May — Knowledge causes pain, but also increases self confidence. Erudition strengthens us and ignorance weakens us. But those people over there, in Jerusalem, are afraid. And when, with the aid of a candle and a feather, they discover a crumb of acknowledgement of the pain of the other and the injustice caused to him – they immediately burn the books. At present the Education Ministry is also the Mental Health Ministry, which inoculates entire generations against the Black Plague of post-Zionism.
http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/whatever-you-do-don-t-talk-about-the-palestinian-nakba.premium-1.432554

Other news

Families anxiously waiting for return of corpses held by Israel
RAMALLAH (WAFA) 24 May — Families of Palestinian fighters killed in action Thursday said they were anxiously waiting for the release of dozens of bodies Israel has been holding, some since 1967, in order to give them proper burial. Speaking to the press, families said they want their children to be able to visit the graves of their fathers and put flowers on them …  Issam Arouri, director of Jerusalem Legal Aid and Human Rights Center, whose organization started in 2008 a campaign to get Israel to return corpses of Palestinians back to their families, said that the release of the corpses is not a favor to the Palestinians, rather a right … He said Israel keeps the bodies in order to later trade them in any exchange with bodies of Israelis. Palestinians believe there are at least 350 bodies buried in the Israeli cemeteries, which have been declared a closed military zone, but that only 300 are known while the rest have been missing.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=19893

PMF: PA uses judiciary to intimidate journalists
GAZA (PIC) 25 May — The Palestinian Media Forum (PMF) has strongly condemned the PA judicial and executive authorities’ decision to try the director of Radio Bethlehem 2000, George Canawati, because of comments on his Facebook page. The forum said, in a statement on Thursday, that the Magistrate Court of Bethlehem City adjourned on Wednesday George Canawati’s trial to September 5.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7LFGwpzg%2bP1Nk%2fiOPGf%2bma0Zn2pDeUwsa0YiowrFjqHQ6rJzsc0Zkv%2be1VaSpn2LyDaWumW7PqXYn5Leb70PgFq%2fBIG6A%2fHGw7UHWFy9qb7o%3d

The Al-Aqsa Brigades to unify its ranks
IMEMC 25 May — The Al-Aqsa Brigades, the armed wing of Fateh movement, stated that all of its military branches will be united under one umbrella … The Pal Press News Agency reported that Abu Mohammad, media spokesperson of the al-Aqsa Brigades, Martyr Imad al-Amoudy Branch, said that this unity will include all branches in different parts of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, and will be run under one military council.
http://www.imemc.org/article/63575

UN renews rights chief’s mandate for two years
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) 25 May — The UN General Assembly on Thursday renewed the mandate of the world body’s human rights chief Navi Pillay, but she was given an abbreviated term as part of a compromise deal with the United States, which dislikes her criticism of Israel, envoys said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=489109

US to reaffirm commitment to Israel’s security
WASHINGTON (Reuters) 25 May — A senior State Department official will travel to Tel Aviv on Friday to reaffirm the US commitment to Israel’s security following just-concluded talks between world powers and Iran over its nuclear program.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=489110

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